Today’s tip… Q: Does Windows 8 or 8.1 have support for .HLP files? A: Yes, Mr. Flintstone. Windows 8 and 8.1 will have support for .HLP files. Q: I cannot open Help that was created in the Windows Help format (WinHlp32.exe) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917607/en-us A: The WinHelp bits have been updated for Windows 8 and 8.1 with…

Today’s tip… The new volume wizard in Server Manager for Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 includes an option to enable short file name creation. While it is not recommended all the time, if you have an application that still requires short file names, it can be easily enabled when the volume is created.

Today’s tip… While the concept of thin provisioning has been around for a little while, Windows Server 2012 is the first version to take full advantage of it. Thin provisioning is the practice of providing storage blocks on an as needed, just in time basis. This gives our customers a great savings as they are…

Today’s tip… Windows 8 and Server 2012 have the ability to mount ISO files without needing to install 3rd party software. Simply right click and MOUNT. Alternately, you can also mount an ISO file by using the Windows PowerShell cmdlet, Mount-DiskImage. NOTE: Both methods can also be used to mount .VHD/.VHDx files.

Today’s tip… I’m often surprised when I look over people’s shoulders and see them doing things the hard way. That’s why some of my tips have been about the Windows interface and the improvements in Windows 8/8.1. One of my favorites features in Windows is the search. On my work computer, I have lots of…

Today’s tip… This is more of an Office tip but I wanted to include it. Like others my age, my eyes are at a point where looking at a screen that is mostly white causes everything to blend together. This is really a problem when I’m using the new Office since the default theme is…

Today’s tip… Most Microsoft employees use ‘administrative tools’ as a normal part of their day. Windows 8 was a bit different for us as our favorite tools were now buried. The good news is that we can quickly add them to our Start screen. While on the Start screen, hover on the lower right border…

Today’s tip… In Windows Server 2012, we have the capability to provide Highly Available, Scale-Out File services by combining the Failover Cluster feature set including CSV (version 2.0) volumes, and SMBv3 functionality all in one solution. These services support Hyper-V and SQL Server data on SMB File Shares hosted in a Windows Server 2012 Failover…

Today’s tip… Prioritized VM Failover :- You can set VM priorities to control the order in which virtual machines fail over or power up. This enables you to give higher priority VMs the resources they need while lower priority VMs are given resources as they become available. This makes for an efficient transition process for…